Tendrils Ten with Diane Arrieta

Diane Arrieta’s work appears in Trauma and the Environment, Issue 2

1. What brings you joy? It could be recent or something you’ve enjoyed for ages.

   When I am not in my art studio creating, my second favorite thing to do is watching nature shows or animated films surrounded by my animals. Those films help me keep wonderment in my life. One of those films is Abominable. That yeti is magical!
   

2. What art form would you like to try at least once?
   I think glass blowing. It looks fascinating and dangerous.
   

3. When was the first time you thought of yourself as an artist?
   Since I was a child. I don’t remember a time when I was not building or drawing.
   

4. What’s one way you process or manage painful emotions?
   The one way I manage hard times is by creating. The pain dissolves into the work, but also by hugging my animals.
   

5. What’s a work of art that has influenced you greatly?
   There are several, but the early works of Daisy Youngblood always speak to me. She manages to capture the essence of her subjects in a way that gives all the feels. 
   

6. What’s your favorite tool for making art?
   The slab roller! Most everything I build from clay originates from slabs.
   

7. If you weren’t an artist, what would you be?
   A sea lion/seal or dolphin biologist. I have done both, but miss them every single day and would have loved to continue doing those forever.
   

8. If you could instantly master any skill, what would you choose?
   Right now, I am trying to master my Gibbon SlackBoard and failing miserably! Which was surprising because I got the bongo board down, but that little slackline is deceptively hard. Art-wise, I would like to master throwing very large dragon or moon jars on the potter’s wheel. 
   

9. If your workspace could talk, what would it say about you?
   You are a messy person when you create, but you listen to amazing music!
   

10. If you could chat with 1 artist, living or dead, who would you choose?
    I think right now, I would like to talk to Jen Schoonmaker. She gives mini tips to painters on contemporaryelite (IG), but I like that the things she says are transferable to sculpture and art practices in general. I also like her own work. She seems interesting.

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Diane Arrieta is a mixed media artist based in South Florida. She has been awarded a 2026 South Florida Cultural Consortium Fellowship. You may see her work at dianearrieta.com or follow along on Instagram: @dianearrieta_artist